Iron_Dreamer

I used a friend's Verizon S3 a few days ago, and it is one lovely piece of hardware. The screen is definitely another step up from that of my Galaxy Nexus. Still 'tis a pity that they crippled it in the US with no quad-core. I'm glad to hear the bootloader is unlocked. Hopefully the S3 will get a taste of CM10 quickly. I've been running it for a while on the G-Nex, and it is quite amazing how much smoother and more fluid the phone operates as compared to CM9/ICS.

Ultimately it will come down to how much compromise you're willing to make, in which areas. I could easily see having an FX DSLR rig for formal portraits, sports, wildlife/nature/landscape photography, a DX-sized mirrorless (Fuji X-Pro1 or Sony NEX-7) or maybe even u4/3 (EM-5) for street photography, higher quality casual/grab shots, and lightweight backpacking, and a larger-sensor compact (like the new Sony RX100) for take-anywhere casual/grab shots. At least that's only two lens systems to have to buy into, and pretty versatile/low compromise depending on the activity. A DX DSLR might be a good compromise between the first two categories, giving you the AF speed and lens choice the mirrorless system lacks, while being between the two on weight and size.

I'd definitely do some trial and error there. Renting (or borrowing) before you buy would definitely be recommended. If you're discussing lenses like that, and you're not sure which one you want/need, you definitely need more hands-on familiarity and experience. All the 70-200 f/2.8 type lenses are quite heavy, and with the hood attached, quite long. Practical is not a word that comes to mind. You will look like a serious photographer using one, and depending on what you're shooting, that may or may not be how you'd like to be perceived. If you're doing posed people shots, sports, wildlife, etc it would likely be fine. For casual people pics, street shooting, or travel, a 70-200 f/2.8 is extreme overkill in my mind, not practical for those uses, and likely to get worse reactions from your human subjects. The 24-70 is a great lens. It will be great on DX, and great on FX. I don't use it myself, because I prefer the focal length versatility and VR of the 24-120 F/4 VR for what I do primarily. If I mostly shot more people-oriented photos, the 24-70 would probably be my go-to lens, despite it's size and length relative to other FX midrange lenses. Also, 24mm is quite a wide angle lens, and it's entirely possible that you might not ever really need anything wider (considering that the point of a wide angle lens is perspective, not "getting everything in")/ Again, the size of the lens and massive hood would probably not be ideal for street shooting or other more causal shooting where people might react to you with "why so serious?" Also, I would contemplate how much you really NEED FX. Thom Hogan's website (bythom.com) is a great resource for Nikon shooters, and he has a number of articles that are excellent for really making you properly evaluate your gear choices and their relevance to your shooting. FX, while having many great attributes, has many drawbacks. The lenses are bigger, heavier, and more expensive. The camera bodies are bigger, heavier, and more expensive. While you can get a shallower DOF, getting sufficiently deep DOF can be a problem on many shots. Primarily though, look at the weight/size/cost of a good DX system (say D7000 / Tokina 11-16 f2.8/ Sigma 17-50 f/2.8 OS / Sigma 50-150 f/2.8 OS) and compare that to a similar FX system (say D3s / 14-24 f2.8 / 24-70 f2.8 / 70-200 f2.8 VR2). The difference is staggering. Seriously contemplate how those factors would effect your use of your camera system. I only deal with FX because of what I shoot, and how I shoot. For what I do, the dynamic range of the D700 (in it's time), and the DR and resolution of the D800 now, are paramount to crafting my images to the levels I demand. I'll eat the cost, and deal with the weight/size, even when it's time to lug that weight/size up 7,000ft of mountain and back down in one day. But many others might not feel the same way, and be as uncompromising on image quality. For some, the convenience or cost might be worth a small sacrifice in image quality, or that sacrifice might not even be present/relevant for their specific uses.

Nice work, Mr. Anon!

It was a 15-second exposure at f/11 ISO100 (using both CPL and ND filters).

Had a chance to do a bit of serious shooting for the first time in a while yesterday, here's one that I ended up liking:

Happy belated, Greg!

I'm to the point where I use me-metering most of the time. I find I'm generally better at knowing the exposure I want in most conditions than the camera is.

Happy lark-Birthday!

Happy Birthday!

Happy birthday Dave! We've got something special waiting at the office for you:

I'm glad she's so pleased, and that the camera's staying in the family. I can only imagine how blown away she must be, as I went D70s->D200->D700, and I was still staggered by the D700, as much by the dynamic range improvement as the low-light. I've yet to have the chance to shoot the D800 in my preferred environments, but I have been pretty amazed with the video capabilities. All these photogs who complain about having video in their DSLR are NUTS!

Can't say I've spent too much time with the HE-500, but they have always seemed nice enough, just lacking a bit of the ultimate punch and precision of a well-driven HE-6.

My site is through Zenfolio, I've been very pleased with their service thus far. The print quality has been superb, and their fulfillment system works very well.

Amazing! What a game to see! I guess he's taking that new contract very seriously!

Looks like Ian's wife Lauren is going to end up with my D700. Hopefully it does as well for her as it has for me. I still haven't had much quality time with the D800, other than enough to get my settings dialed in, fall in love with a couple of new features, and test out shooting video a f/1.4 on an FX sensor (fun!) I still have my UD35, for over three years now. I like the top-loading nature, making it easy to swap lenses and take the camera in/out on the go, without needing to set the bag down. I have crammed a 14" laptop, pro-size DSLR, and as many as six lenses in it at once, of course with a variety of odds an ends. At that point, it does become quite a brick. Edwood has the v2 edition, which adds a few minor features, the most compelling to me being the easier-to-access front zipper pocket. Nevertheless, my v1 is just fine, and should keep doing well for me for quite a while to come.

Sounds like it was a day at the ol' ballpark for the ages.

Ditto me!

D800 landed Monday, in a box that UPS did their best to utterly destroy. The camera seems to run fine though. With the new business, I haven't had the time to do anything resembling really trying the camera out yet. It has a noticeably quieter shutter than the D800, and the new screen is definitely quite nice as well. If anybody would be interested in my D700/grip/l-plate, let me know.

Have a happy birthday, and don't let loose your inner monologue

I found them an appalling joke for their asking price when I tried them at CES. Hopefully for Sennheiser's sake, they've been improved since then. But that's doubtful, especially since they felt about as cheap and flimsy as they sounded poor.

I thought it was the 28th as well. Sorry fellas, but with the new business I've not had much time to keep up with the goings on around here as much as I'd like.

Packing up to head to LA for a few weeks, to help a friend launch a new business. With any luck, it should really take off.

It's all of the above, to an extent. Hitting the beach before sunrise was key point #1, without doing that, the rest would have been futile. Finding the right spot, and the right wave, and capturing it at the right time, was also all crucial (I have plenty of other attempts from that morning). I did use both CPL and ND filters, to get the color and exposure time right (and obviously that required a tripod). Finally, the right processing was needed to bring out the contrast of the sand/water/bubbles in a way that really revealed the different textures.

Here's one from a day on the California Coast this last weekend: